Combination Bottle and System

ABSTRACT

A combination bottle and system for devising combination bottles for the retention of liquids and other pliable items is provided. A base container unit with an open mouth is configured to retain liquids and exhibits a base unit perimeter lip with an attachment configuration and the base container unit may be combined with various capacity-adding units which have perimeter lips with a variety of attachment configurations that allow attachment between the base unit and the capacity-adding unit(s). The base container unit may be combined either alone or with various numbers of capacity adding units with one or more top units that have top unit perimeter lips with top unit attachment configurations mateable with the various constituent members of the combination bottle system. Various top units are provided which exhibit functional end selected from the group of: sippy cup functional end, straw functional end, and nipple functional end. By varying the size of perimeter lips and projection aspect, necks may be created in constituted bottles providing convenient hand-holds.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to combination bottle systems that provideflexible capacity and function for containers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A variety of styles and configurations of bottles and containers areused to hold liquids and foods ranging, for example, from baby formulaand milk to consumables oriented for more adult tastes such as, forexample, nutritional or energy drinks consumed on long commutes,vacation shores or the high vistas of the Rocky Mountains.

Millions of bottles are discarded each year. For example, of the largevariety of bottles used in tending growing babies and children,approximately 70 million end in landfills across the US each year. Apart of this disposal load results when babies “outgrow” both the sizeand function of their bottles. For example, they outgrow theirnipple-topped bottles and move up the maturity ladder to what are oftencalled “sippy cups” and then finally to bottles topped by lidsconfigured to securely include a straw.

Fixed capacities also reduce the utility of bottles and containers.Small babies can more readily hold a smaller bottle while the grasp aswell as appetite of large children is better suited to bottles ofgreater capacity.

Hikers sometimes include a mix of bottles in their equipment to allowadaptation to the dry conditions of desert hiking with 1500 cc waterbottles while in cooler mountain environments they may employ standard 1liter bottles. Yet, for some foods and recreational drinks, a 1 litercapacity bottle may be too much and a separate smaller bottle isrequired for smaller amounts of drink and food if valuable pack space isto be conserved.

Further, many bottles are still constructed from potentially mutagenicmaterials that may raise the risk of some cancers and birth defects.

What is needed, therefore, is a bottle and container system thatprovides capacity and function flexibility in an integrated systemconstructed from safe materials and which adapts to the age, abilitiesand interests of the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A base unit is combined with various capacity-adding units and/or topunits having various functional ends to provide a combination bottle andsystem of wide flexibility and use. Various capacities may be devised bycombining one or multiple capacity-adding units to a base unit whilevarious functions for the combined bottle may be implemented throughvarious functional ends for the employed top unit. In some embodiments,combinations of attachment configurations of various perimeter lips ofthe constituent bottle units create neck features in devised combinationbottles. Various configurations of attachment configurations may becombined to impose particular stacking or combination rules onconstituted combination bottles devised from various embodiments of thecombination bottle systems provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A depicts an exemplar base unit employed in a combination bottlesystem in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 1B-1F each depict various example configurations for functionalends of top units that may be employed with various embodiments of acombination bottle system in accordance with the present invention.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C each depict various example attachmentconfigurations employed in a top unit embodiment for use with variousembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 depicts an embodiment from a combination bottle system employingmultiple capacity adding units and a coffee style top unit.

FIG. 4 depicts another embodiment from a combination bottle systememploying an open lip top unit.

FIG. 5 depicts another embodiment from a combination bottle system.

FIG. 6 depicts another embodiment from a combination bottle systememploying a sippy cup top unit.

FIG. 7 illustrates a few example attachment configurations employed inan embodiment of a combination bottle.

FIG. 8 depicts yet another embodiment of a combination bottle.

FIG. 9 depicts a combination bottle in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention in which a double walled construction is employedby various units of the combination bottle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLAR EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1A depicts aspects of an exemplar bottle system 10. As shown inFIG. 1A, base unit 20 is a container having capacity 21 and an open end22 with a perimeter lip 24 configured with an attachment configuration26 _(X). Base unit 20 may be any of a variety of configurations, suchas, for example, round, square, faceted or oval. Attachmentconfiguration 26 _(X) is preferably, although not necessarily, round.

Various exemplar top units are shown in FIGS. 1B-1F with each beingdepicted with a functional end 28. FIG. 1B shows top unit 30 ₁ having,for example, a functional end 28 that is a nipple end 32. In these Figs,reference 28 refers to any functional end while particular types offunctional ends are identified by their own unique reference.

Top unit 30 ₁ is shown having a shell 31 and a separable nipple 32 asits functional end. Top units 30 that employ separable functional ends28 are comprised from a shell 31 and a separable functional end. In FIG.1C, top unit 30 ₂ is shown having a functional end 28 which in thisparticular embodiment, is a sippy cup lip functional end 34 while inFIG. 1D, top unit 30 ₃ exhibits a functional end 28 which is a strawfunctional end 36 with an optional ferrule or bulb 37 to retain straw 36in top unit 30 ₃. Top unit 30 ₄ is shown with a functional end 28 whichis a push-pull access sports type functional end 29 (FIG. 1E). In FIG.1F another functional end 28 which is a sports type functional end 29adapted for bicycling is shown. The nipple functional end 32, sippy cupfunctional end 34, integrated straw functional end 36, push-pull accesssports functional end 29 ₁ and flip over sports type functional end 29 ₂are just examples of various types of functional ends 28. These examplesshould not be considered limiting however. It should be appreciated thatfunctional ends 28 may be either integrated, such as shown by anintegrated sippy cup functional end 34 in FIG. 1C or separable fromshell 31 of top unit 30 such as is shown in FIG. 1B. It should beappreciated that as with other various functional ends, nipplefunctional end 32 may be separable from shell 31 or integral with topunit 30. As shown in FIGS. 1A-1F, top units 30 _(X) include anattachment configuration 26 _(Y) that mates with an attachmentconfiguration 26 _(X) of base unit 20 or later shown capacity-addingunit 50. As will be appreciated, top unit 30 may have functional ends 28that provide substantially covered tops to the combination bottle asshown in FIG. 3 for use with hot liquids while another type offunctional end may merely be an open lipped functional end such as thatshown in FIG. 4. It will be further appreciated that these are merelyexamples of a few of the many different types of top units that may beemployed in a bottle system in accordance with preferred embodiments ofthe present invention.

FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C depict from a top down view a base unit 20 with asemi-rectangular configuration devised for convenient stacking, shipmentand use in suitcases or packs where space is at a premium. As those ofskill will appreciate, base unit 20 as well as the capacity adding units50 may display any of a variety of configurations such as circular orrectangular to name just a couple of examples.

Base unit 20 is depicted as configured with various exemplar types ofattachment configurations 26 _(X) provided to illustrate, withoutlimiting, a variety of example types of attachment configurationsemployable with various units of the combination bottle and system 10.FIG. 2A illustrates an attachment configuration 26 _(XA) in which a slot40 is part of an attachment configuration 26 _(X) that may be part of abase unit or a capacity-adding unit 50 such as those shown in laterfigures. Slot 40 is configured to accept a tab from attachmentconfiguration 26 _(Y) of a corresponding top unit 30 or capacity-addingunit 50 and a sloping channel 42 is provided to allow mating betweenvarious units of system 10. FIG. 2B depicts a screw thread attachmentconfiguration 26 _(XB) with threads 44 that are internal to theperimeter lip 24. FIG. 2C depicts a screw thread attachmentconfiguration 26 _(XC) having threads 46 that are external on perimeterlip 24. These are just a few exemplars of attachment configurations 26_(X) that may be used to provide one of the pair of attachmentconfigurations 26 _(X) and 26 _(Y) that mate to provide attachmentamongst base units 20, capacity-adding units 50, and top units 30.

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplar combination bottle 60 with multiplecapacity-adding units 50 each having capacity 52 and a first perimeterlip 24 with an upper attachment configuration 26 _(X) and a secondperimeter lip 24 with a lower attachment configuration 26 _(Y). Itshould be appreciated that the combination bottle 60 shown in FIG. 3 isillustrated with three capacity-adding units 50 and a base unit 20 and atop unit 30 ₅ shown configured as with “coffee top” functional end 28useful for drinking liquids that may be spilled, but a variety of topunits 30 as well as capacity-adding units 50 of a variety ofconfigurations may be employed with the depicted embodiment. It shouldalso be appreciated that the upper and lower attachment configurations26 _(X) and 26 Y respectively, of a particular capacity-adding unit maybe of the same type such as, for example, both screw configurations, ordifferent types such as, for example, tab and slot connectiveconfiguration for upper attachment configuration 26 _(X) and screwconfiguration for lower attachment configuration 26 _(Y), for example.Further, the upper and lower attachment configurations of a particularcapacity-adding unit may both be of the same type (e.g., screw) yet onemay exhibit internal threads while the other external threads or, bothupper and lower attachment configurations may exhibit the same characterof threads. Further, the perimeter lips 24 of a particularcapacity-adding unit 50 or base unit 20 or top unit 30 may be of either“gender” (e.g., male or projecting) or in units having two perimeterlips such as, for example, exemplar capacity-adding units 50, theperimeter lips may be of different gender (e.g., one male and the otherfemale or accepting) or the same gender.

A variety of materials are preferably employed in the construction ofpreferred embodiments of combination bottle 60 including, for example,materials such as stainless steel, aluminum, PET, copolyester, glass,PS, AS, bio based polymers, PE, PP, PPSU, BPA, PES, acrylic, bamboo,melamine, or PA. As those of skill will recognize, these materials aretypically less toxic and more inert than many other materials andtherefore are recommended for use in bottles and containers for foodsand liquids.

As shown in FIG. 3, attachment configuration 26 _(X) and attachmentconfiguration 26 _(Y) are mateable with each other to combine thevarious units of combination bottle 60. There need not be uniformitybetween the first and second lip gender nor in the attachmentconfigurations of said perimeter lips. In combination bottles devisedfrom units 20, 50 and 30, for example, attachment configurations 26 _(X)and 26 _(Y) amongst each of the constituent units 20, 30 and 50 need notbe of the same configurations and, in some embodiments, imposingparticular types of attachment configurations 26 _(X) and 26 _(Y) willintentionally dictate the order such units are combined and that willimpose a desired connection or stacking outcome in such embodimentswhere desired.

FIG. 4 depicts a combination bottle 60 in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention in which a base unit 20 is combined through themating of attachment configuration 26 _(Y) of perimeter lip 24 of baseunit 20 with attachment configuration 26 _(Y) exhibited by perimeter lip24 of capacity-adding unit 50 and the mating of attachment configuration26 _(Y) of the perimeter lip 24 of top unit 30 ₆ with attachmentconfiguration 26 _(X) of capacity-adding unit 50 to create an openlipped cup variant combination bottle 60.

FIG. 4 depicts various exemplar units 20, 50 and 30 arranged toillustrate another exemplar embodiment of combination bottle 60. Itshould be understood that the illustrations of the present disclosureare merely exemplars and the combinations available are not in any waylimited to those shown whether in combinations shown or in dimensionsrelative or absolute. As illustrated in FIG. 4, multiple units such asbase unit 20 and capacity-adding units 50 with diameter A may becombined into a multi-piece bottle 60 in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention. Various top units 30 may be chosen foremployment in combination bottle 60 as those of skill will understandafter appreciating this disclosure.

FIG. 5 depicts a combination bottle 60 in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention in which a base unit 20 is combined through themating of attachment configuration 26 _(X) of perimeter lip 24 of baseunit 20 with attachment configuration 26 _(Y) exhibited by perimeter lip24 of capacity-adding unit 50 and the mating of attachment configuration26 _(Y) of the perimeter lip 24 of top unit 30 ₂ with attachmentconfiguration 26 _(X) of upper perimeter lip 24 of capacity-adding unit50 to create a larger sippy cup variant combination bottle 60 forextended car trips, for example.

FIG. 6 illustrates the combination of an exemplar base unit 20 havingattachment configuration 26 _(X) on a projecting (e.g., “male”)perimeter lip 24 configured for mating to an attachment configuration 26_(Y) configured on a corresponding lower projecting perimeter lip of acapacity adding unit 50. When the present disclosure refers to aperimeter lip without specifying that it is projecting oraccepting/receiving it should be understood that such perimeter lip maybe either.

In some of the provided views, attachment configuration 26 _(X) isconfigured on a projecting perimeter lip 24 and attachment configuration26 y is configured on an accepting perimeter lip 24 but as those ofskill will understand after appreciating this disclosure, someembodiments may exhibit attachment configurations 26 _(X) and 26 _(Y)with each found on projecting perimeter lips 24. It will be noted thatupper perimeter lip 24 of capacity adding unit 50 creates a diameter A₂in capacity adding unit 50 that is smaller than diameter A₁ of the body55 of capacity adding unit 50.

As shown in FIG. 7, configured in the upper-most capacity-adding unit 50of the figure is perimeter lip 24 configured with an attachmentconfiguration exhibiting slot 40 and channel 42 to accept tab 54 oneither another capacity-adding unit 50 or, as shown, a top unit 30 asshown in FIG. 7. Depicted top unit 30 includes a functional end 28 whichis a sports top nozzle 29 and a finger ring 41 although no particularconfiguration should be implied as this should be understood to bemerely an example of one of the many configurations of functional topsused with combination bottle 60.

FIG. 8 depicts a base unit 20 with capacity 21 having an attachmentconfiguration 26 _(X) exhibited on its perimeter lip 24. Depictedcombination bottle 60 includes base unit 20 and capacity-adding unit 50with capacity 51 and, as illustrated, top unit 30 having attachmentconfiguration 26 Y that mates with attachment configuration 26 _(X) ofunit 50. Top unit 30 is configured with a functional unit 28 which is anadult suction functional end 33 to provide a sealed container untilsuction is applied to top unit 30.

It will be appreciated that because diameter B is less than diameter A₁this results in combination bottle 60 a neck of smaller diameter andshown height C which may provide a convenient hand-hold in bottle 60.Surface 54 of mid-level capacity-adding unit 50 of FIG. 8 is shown in aplanar configuration which creates a bottom surface on thatcapacity-adding unit 50 which provides added stability between theconstituent units. For added leak prevention, an optional washer may beemployed to enhance the fit between capacity-adding unit 50 and baseunit 20 or another capacity-adding unit 50 with which it is matedthrough the mating of respective attachment configurations 26 _(X) and26 _(Y).

FIG. 8 depicts a double-walled construction that may be employed inconfigurations employed with fluids that are preferably maintained intemperature. Space 51 between walls 53 is preferably air but may bepartial vacuum or even filled with argon or other insulative gas asthose of skill will appreciate. Thus, combination bottles that provideimproved thermal stability with safe materials while offering flexiblecapacities and utility are provided by such embodiments.

I claim:
 1. A combination bottle system comprising: a base containerunit configured to retain liquids, the base container unit having anopen mouth with a base unit perimeter lip having an attachmentconfiguration; a capacity-adding unit configured to retain liquids, thecapacity-adding unit having a first perimeter lip having a firstattachment configuration, the first attachment configuration of thefirst perimeter lip and the attachment configuration of the base unitperimeter lip being mateable with each other, the capacity-adding unithaving a second perimeter lip having a second attachment configuration;and a top unit having a top unit perimeter lip having a top unitattachment configuration mateable with the second attachmentconfiguration of the second perimeter lip of the capacity-adding unit.2. The combination bottle system of clam 1 in which each of the topunit, the base container unit and the capacity adding unit are comprisedfrom a group of materials including: stainless steel, aluminum, PET,copolyester, glass, PS, AS, bio based polymers, PE, PP, PPSU, BPA, PES,acrylic, bamboo, melamine, and PA.
 3. The combination bottle system ofclaim 1 in which the top unit exhibits a functional end selected fromthe group of: sippy cup functional end, straw functional end, nipplefunctional end, sports functional end, coffee top functional end andopen lipped functional end
 4. The combination bottle system of any ofclaim 1 in which the attachment configuration of the base unit perimeterlip, the first attachment configuration of the first perimeter lip ofthe capacity-adding unit and the second attachment configuration of thesecond perimeter lip of the capacity-adding unit are each of the sametype.
 5. The combination bottle system of claim 2 in which theattachment configuration of the base unit perimeter lip, the firstattachment configuration of the first perimeter lip of thecapacity-adding unit and the second attachment configuration of thesecond perimeter lip of the capacity-adding unit are each of the sametype.
 6. The combination bottle system of claim 1 in which the top unitcomprises a shell and said top unit exhibits a nipple functional endseparable from the shell of the top unit.
 7. The combination bottlesystem of claim 1 in which the top unit exhibits an integral nipplefunctional end.
 8. The combination bottle system of claim 1 in which thefirst perimeter lip of the capacity-adding unit and the base unitperimeter lip of the base unit are each configured with a projectingconfiguration so that when the first attachment configuration of thefirst perimeter lip of the capacity-adding unit and the attachmentconfiguration of the base unit perimeter lip are mated, the combinationbottle exhibits a neck having a neck diameter smaller than the diameterof the base unit.
 9. A combination bottle system comprising: a basecontainer unit configured to retain liquids, the base container unithaving an open mouth with a base unit perimeter lip having an attachmentconfiguration; and first and second top units, each of said first andsecond top units having a top unit perimeter lip having an attachmentconfiguration mateable with the attachment configuration of the baseunit perimeter lip, said first and second top units each exhibiting adifferent functional end, each of the
 10. The combination bottle systemof claim 8 in which the functional ends of the first and second unitsare selected from the group of: sippy cup functional end, strawfunctional end, nipple functional end, sports functional end, and openlipped functional end.
 11. The combination bottle system of claim 8 inwhich the first top unit exhibits a nipple functional end that isseparable from a shell of said first top unit.
 12. A combination bottlesystem comprising: a base container unit configured to retain liquids,the base container unit having an open mouth with a base unit perimeterlip having an attachment configuration; a first capacity-adding unitconfigured to retain liquids, the first capacity-adding unit having afirst perimeter lip having a first attachment configuration and a secondperimeter lip having a second attachment configuration, the attachmentconfiguration of the base unit perimeter lip being mateable with thefirst attachment configuration of the first perimeter lip or the secondattachment configuration of the second attachment lip; and a secondcapacity-adding unit configured to retain liquids, the secondcapacity-adding unit having a primary second capacity-adding unitperimeter lip having a third attachment configuration, the thirdattachment configuration being mateable with the attachmentconfiguration of the base unit perimeter lip or the first or secondattachment configurations of the respective perimeter lips of the firstcapacity-adding unit.
 13. The combination bottle system of claim 12 inwhich the first and second capacity adding units are comprised frommaterials from a group of materials: stainless steel, aluminum, PET,copolyester, glass, PS, AS, bio based polymers, PE, PP, PPSU, BPA, PES,acrylic, bamboo, melamine, and PA.
 14. The combination bottle system ofclaim 13 further comprising a top unit, the top unit having a top unitperimeter lip, said top unit having a top unit attachment configurationmateable with the attachment configuration of the base unit perimeterlip or the first attachment configuration of the first perimeter lip orthe second attachment configuration of the second perimeter lip of thefirst capacity-adding unit.
 15. The combination bottle system of claim14 in which the top unit exhibits a functional end, said functional endbeing selected from the group of: sippy cup functional end, nipplefunctional end, and straw functional end.
 16. The combination bottlesystem of claim 14 in which the top unit comprises a shell and aseparable functional end.
 17. The combination bottle system of claim 12further comprising: first and second top units, the first top unithaving a first top unit perimeter lip having a first top unit attachmentconfiguration mateable with the attachment configuration of the baseunit perimeter lip or the first, second, or third attachmentconfigurations and said second top unit having a second top unitperimeter lip having a second top unit attachment configuration saidfirst and second top units each exhibiting a functional end.
 18. Thecombination bottle system of claim 17 in which said first and second topunits each have a functional end selected from the group of functionalends including sippy cup functional end, straw cup functional end andnipple cup functional end.
 19. The combination bottle system of claim 18in which the functional ends of the respective first and second topunits each exhibit a different function.
 20. A combination bottle systemcomprising: a base container unit configured to retain liquids, the basecontainer unit having an open mouth with a base unit perimeter liphaving an attachment configuration; and first and second top units, thefirst top unit having a first top unit perimeter lip having a first topunit attachment configuration mateable with the attachment configurationof the base unit perimeter lip and said second top unit having a secondtop unit perimeter lip having a second top unit attachmentconfiguration, said first and second top units each exhibiting afunctional end selected from the group of: nipple functional end andsippy cup functional end and straw cup functional end, the basecontainer unit and the first and second top units each being comprisedfrom materials selected from: stainless steel, aluminum, PET,copolyester, glass, PS, AS, bio based polymers, PE, PP, PPSU, BPA, PES,acrylic, bamboo, melamine, PA.
 21. A combination bottle systemcomprising: a base container unit configured to retain liquids, the basecontainer unit having an open mouth with a base unit perimeter liphaving an attachment configuration; and a first capacity-adding unitconfigured to retain liquids, the first capacity-adding unit having afirst perimeter lip having a first attachment configuration and a secondperimeter lip having a second attachment configuration, the attachmentconfiguration of the base unit perimeter lip being mateable with thefirst attachment configuration of the first perimeter lip or the secondattachment configuration of the second attachment lip, the firstperimeter lip of the capacity-adding unit and the base unit perimeterlip of the base unit being each configured with a projectingconfiguration so that when the first attachment configuration of thefirst perimeter lip of the capacity-adding unit and the attachmentconfiguration of the base unit perimeter lip are mated, the combinationbottle exhibits a neck.
 22. The combination bottle of claim 19 furthercomprising a top unit having a functional end.
 23. The combinationbottle of claim 19 in which the base unit has a base unit diameter andthe neck has a neck diameter and the base unit diameter is larger thanthe neck diameter.
 24. The combination bottle of claim 20 in which thecapacity-adding unit exhibits a flat floor surface.
 25. A combinationbottle system comprising: a base container unit configured to retainliquids, the base container unit having an open mouth with a base unitperimeter lip having an attachment configuration; a capacity adding unitconfigured with first and second attachment configurations, the firstattachment configuration being mateable with the attachmentconfiguration of the base container unit; a first top unit having afunctional end and a first top unit perimeter lip having a first topunit attachment configuration mateable with the attachment configurationof the base unit perimeter lip and the second attachment configurationof the capacity adding unit, each of the capacity adding unit and thebase container unit having double walled construction.
 26. Thecombination bottle system of claim 25 further comprising a second topunit having a function end that provides a function distinct from thefunction provided by the first top unit.
 27. The combination bottlesystem of claim 25 in which the capacity adding unit and the basecontainer unit are each comprised from materials selected from the listof: stainless steel, aluminum, PET, copolyester, glass, PS, AS, biobased polymers, PE, PP, PPSU, BPA, PES, acrylic, bamboo, melamine, andPA.